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The professor emphasized that he does not see any sense in the restrictions on movement between municipalities. He explained that this restriction would make sense if it were applied to only a few municipalities in the country with the highest outbreaks.
“This restriction would make sense if there were a couple, three municipalities with very strong chimneys. It might make sense to insulate those chimneys. There are no significant differences in Lithuania, at least between the big cities where the majority of the population lives. And I do not know what benefits it has to stop the virus, “said the economist on the radio news program” Question of the day. “
The interviewee stressed that the speed of spread of the virus depends on the available contacts. And restrictions on movement between municipalities do not change this situation.
“The biggest chimneys are in the big cities. The fact that we are cutting back the movement between the big cities and the small municipalities, what are we doing? We barely change the average number of contacts in the whole country. What determines the speed spread of the virus? The average number of contacts per day or week. These restrictions on movement between municipalities hardly change this number, “said R. Rudzkis.
“Do you think that the reduction of mobility in kilometers has an impact on the virus? The virus is affected by the number of contacts with other people, ”he explained again.
The professor also gave a specific example: if he is not allowed to go with his brother who has contracted a coronavirus in Šakiai, he will contact other people in Vilnius at the same time.
“Driving long distances significantly reduces the number of contacts for me. And in my spare time, being in Vilnius, I will get in touch with many more people. Common sense shows that it doesn’t help. Except for small municipalities (llamas, aut. P.). Small, not like Vilnius. Because the denser the city, the bigger it is, the more diseases there will be. Because there are many more contacts ”, he explained his position.
Rudzkis reiterated that this restriction would make sense if efforts were made to “extinguish” several burning municipalities.
“This restriction would make sense if a couple of sparsely populated municipalities were identified. If they had to isolate them, that might be justified. In those municipalities, the vaccination process could be sped up if this were the case. Today, the opposite is true: most of the infected people are in major cities. And what do we change if we restrict travel from big cities to small ones? Those who need what they really want are still leaving, ”said the professor about the quarantine conditions.
The economist said these restrictions make life difficult for quarantine holders.
All these restrictions only complicate the lives of honest people, they break the ties between families: young and old. (…) This causes great psychological stress. After all, there are traditions in Lithuania: Christmas, Easter, ”said the professor.
R. Rudzkis mentioned that Germany also embarked on the path of liberation before Easter. Still, that was not the original plan. Residents were simply outraged by the extremely strict restrictions proposed for the Easter period, so they were rejected.
“And do you think the Lithuanians are not angry? I am simply surprised by this government, it is not at all interested in public opinion, its ratings or the next elections.” What she cares about is a secret from me, “said the professor. .
He said that the impact of restrictions on movement between municipalities for Easter will be very small.
“Believe me. From the moment we end these restrictions, the impact will be really small. (…) After all, everyone in the families knows the situation of others: who is vaccinated, who is sick,” he said.
The news radio interlocutor stated that “the average Lithuanian should not be thought of as much stupider than the average member of the Government.”
“Nobody wants to get infected or infect their families. But if you only follow one logic: desperately improve the indicators, then listen, Anders Breivik, who is in a closed Norwegian prison, has less chance of getting infected. But maybe we will not make everyone get out of the field, “asked the interlocutor.
Rimantas Rudzkis
R. Rudzkis assured that he had expressed his opinion based on current figures: restrictions on movement between municipalities have a minimal impact on the spread of the virus. He asked to give the population the freedom to choose the potential risks themselves.
“It often worsens the psychological comfort of residents, not to mention the queues of cars leaving the cities. The psychological climate is deteriorating a lot, people are tired. And we are a democracy, maybe we let the people choose for themselves, whether they want to take a small risk or not.
If the desire is to improve the death rate as soon as possible, will it be up to the Government to limit the speed on the highway to 40 kilometers per hour? Then no one will die, we will avoid a couple hundred deaths, but for some reason those ideas will not come, “said economist Professor R. Rudzkis on the radio news program” Question of the Day “.
Delphi recalls that the quarantine lasted throughout Lithuania until April 30.
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė announced on Tuesday that the quarantine conditions will not change this week, and has promised to decide on the change of movement restrictions a week later, next Tuesday.
The restrictions on movement, as they are now, are promised to no longer be extended.
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